Haus der Demokratie Leipzig, Cultural heritage monument building in Connewitz, Leipzig, Germany.
The Haus der Demokratie Leipzig stands as a protected cultural heritage monument in the Connewitz district, serving as a center for political education, social initiatives, and democratic engagement activities.
Architect Otto Wilhelm Scharenberg designed the building as a municipal orphanage; construction began in 1901 and was completed in 1903, housing 130 children and care staff on a 682 m² built area. From 1928 to 1932 it served as the city's apprentice home, then as a children's home until 1943, and in 1940 it was used as a Wehrmacht hospital. After wartime damage, the Konstruktions- und Ingenieurbüro Chemie rebuilt it from 1952; from late 1982 to October 1983 it was reconstructed for the SED city leadership, which took it over. On 2 January 1990 the SED/PDS and the city handed the house to local associations, and working groups of the Round Table met there.
Since 1990, the building houses multiple cultural facilities including the Tanzcafé Ilses Erika, Kinobar Prager Frühling cinema bar, Leipzig Environmental Library, and the Citizens' Movement Archive, promoting arts, culture, and democratic education.
Located at Bernhard-Göring-Straße 152 in Connewitz, the building offers 682 square meters of space for workshops, exhibitions, lectures, and discussions, with regular programming focused on human rights and democratic participation.
Since 7 May 2016, a group of Stolpersteine on the pavement outside the building has commemorated the children's home and some of the children murdered after being transferred to the "Kinderfachabteilungen" in Dösen or Großschweidnitz. The stones are set into the sidewalk, not mounted on the facade.
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